Thursday, December 31, 2009

Trading Options

f you're into trading on the stock market and have never heard of the money to be made from trading options then perhaps you are new to the game.The use of an option strategy has allowed many of the most aggressive traders to maximize their ability to make money from the stock market.

One's trading strategy
on the stock market can be expanded beyond the simple buying and selling of stocks by trading options.Options are essentially derivative
investment instruments that reserve the right to take a specific action with a stock but without obligating the trader to take that action.However, the reservation granted by an option is limited by a given time frame, and set upon a fixed strike price.

The value of an option is maximized when it is implemented together with other options in order to create an overall option strategy.The trader's intention in using one is to anticipate a number of directions the stock's value can take.The simplest example of such a strategy would be the straddle, which requires the trader take a call option together with a put option on the same underlying stock.It is only when the value of a stock refuses to change in any meaningful ratio that a straddle loses money. How does the straddle strategy work? It's quite simple.A call option makes money when the underlying stock increases in value and a put option makes money when the same stock's value decreases.In effect, the underlying stock in a straddle strategy can make the trader money no matter the direction in value change it experiences.

Regardless, trading options is a stock market tactic heavily promoted by trading experts because of the leverage they provide.The leverage to be had from options translates into great potential to profit despite the smaller capital outlay required.This means that you can make money from changes to a company's share value at a fraction of the share price.

Before you begin your foray into trading options it is - as mentioned above - important for you to possess a thorough stock option
education. This can be obtained through an option tutorial that will guide you through important basics such as the difference between a call option and a put option, the important role that a strike price plays, and what makes certain strategies bearish or bullish. When you learn option trading, you must understand these and many other concepts.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Online Stock Trading

The stock market has become the scene for those individuals who have learned to build a strong portfolio with online stock trading. Most investors keep an eye out for stock that is rising however, some experienced traders are spending their time finding stock that is on the brink of dropping. This type of stock trading is known as selling short.

There are a couple of reasons that an investor would want to sell a stock short when online stock trading. One reason is that a stock will drop in price about three times faster than it took to increase in price by the same amount, meaning faster profits. Another reason is that many stocks run in cycles due to various economic and seasonal conditions. This means that traders can take advantage of all the moves a stock has at hand when online stock trading.
Selling a stock short is the exact opposite as buying and holding stock when investing in stock. Instead of the more traditional method of buying stocks and profiting from the share price gaining in value, it is actually profiting from a stock falling in price. When one sells short they expect the share price to lose value and profit from the decline in price when online stock trading. Please note that when you sell a stock short, you are borrowing the shares from your broker. If after reading this, you decide to begin trading stocks short, you must first open a margin account.

Tips for Online Stock Trading
When new to online stock trading, start low with lots of shares such as 100, and avoid jumping in with orders for 1000+. Mentally, at first, a trade with 100 shares going against you is easier to take than one with 1000 when trading stocks.

When online stock trading, you must know where your exit points in the trade will be, including your stop loss value. It is important to take losses and not let a losing trade run away while you hope it will turn in your favor later on. It’s very possible that it may not.

Stock market tips also include looking at the previous day’s trading range by subtracting the high of the day from the low of the day. Stock chart patterns with large ranges will give more opportunities for larger moves for you to capture compared to stocks which only fluctuate by a few cents each day.

When online stock trading, if the lead stochastic crosses below the 80 band consider this a sell signal, and if it crosses above 20, then it would be a possible buy signal.

For futures analysis, if the futures are in an uptrend, but your stock is moving down this could signal a possible explosive move down when the futures start to go back down again. The same applies in reverse for moves up when online stock trading.

If trading NASDAQ stocks, be aware of what the futures are doing. Stocks usually move with the futures. When online stock trading, it is typically a bad idea to short a stock if the futures are in a strong uptrend and vice versa for going long.

buyers and sellers

Most stocks are traded on exchanges, which are places where buyers and sellers meet and decide on a price. Some exchanges are physical locations where transactions are carried out on a trading floor. You've probably seen pictures of a trading floor, in which traders are wildly throwing their arms up, waving, yelling, and signaling to each other. The other type of exchange is a virtual kind, composed of a network of computers where trades are made electronically.


The purpose of a stock market is to facilitate the exchange of securities between buyers and sellers, thus reducing the risks of investing. Just imagine how difficult it would be to sell shares if you had to call around the neighborhood trying to find a buyer. Really, a stock market is nothing more than a super-sophisticated farmers market linking buyers and sellers.


Before we go on, we should distinguish between the "primary" market and the "secondary" market. The primary market is where securities are created (by means of an IPO) while, in the secondary market, investors trade previously-issued securities without the involvement of the issuing-companies. The secondary market is what people are referring to when they talk about "the stock market." It is important to understand that the trading of a company's stock does not directly involve that company.